Analysis of Annual Reports

Annual reports were collected from all eight corporations in the study. The researchers used the Annual Report Document Analysis Form to collect information on the corporation's commitment to diversity as demonstrated in their annual reports. The annual report is a key corporate document used to communicate a profile of an organization to its stakeholders. These stakeholders include employees, customers, stockholders, and interested members of the larger community. Therefore, the annual report reaches a large audience and can be an influential and effective tool for communicating the corporation's position on diversity-related issues (Tomervik, 1994). Appendix B includes the Annual Report Document Analysis Form.

The Annual Report Document Analysis Form was used as an aid in compiling information on current organizational practices and key initiatives. The form was composed of 14 criteria, in the form of a checklist with questions, and addresses three broad concerns: (1) attention to general HR issues, (2) photographs depicting diversity in the workforce or in the customer base, and (3) descriptions of community relations activities. The major reasons for addressing these three broad concerns were as follows: First, if there were identifiable statements referring to human resources and the organization's commitment to its employees and the communities it serves, then the researchers could question whether workforce diversity was integrated into those statements in some way. Second, if photographs were included in the report, the researchers could observe whether diverse populations were represented as employees or customers. Third, if community relations programs were conducted by the organization, the researchers could determine whether programs were being conducted in a way that shows commitment to diversity.

The first six questions on the Annual Report Document Analysis Form assessed whether the organization was communicating positive statements regarding the value of its human resources. The questions were designed to assist the researchers in identifying general statements on human resources, mission statements, value statements, and guiding principles and their relationship to workforce diversity. The next six questions on the form addressed the range of photographs within the report. Those questions assisted the researchers in identifying annual report photographs that represent women, people of color, people with disabilities, and diverse customers. The last two questions addressed community relations programs and their role and commitment to diversity. A comment section on the form follows the checklist section for note-taking on general impressions and reactions to the document.

The researchers completed the Annual Report Document Analysis Form on the 1996 annual reports from the eight corporations in the study. The corporate ratings on the 14 criteria were tabulated and recorded. The number of corporations with positive ratings for each criterion were recorded (see Table 5).

The researchers also rank ordered the corporations by total of positive responses on the Annual Report Document Analysis Form (see Table 6).

All of the corporations' annual reports included general statements on human resources (Item #1) and seven (63%) included an organizational mission statement that addressed human resources (Item #2). However, only three (38%) of the corporations addressed workforce diversity (Item #3) or a commitment to the communities it serves (Item #4) in their organization's mission statement. All the corporations' annual reports included the organization's guiding principles or value statements (Item # 5), and 6 (75%) of those addressed workforce diversity in some way (Item #6). While seven of the annual reports (88%) included photographs of employees other than the president, chairman, and the board of directors (Item #7), as well as photographs reflecting diversity (Item #8), female employees (Item #9), people of color (Item # 10), and a diverse customer base (Item #12), none of the annual reports included photographs of people with disabilities (Item #11).

Community relations reporting in the annual reports was another way diversity was emphasized. Seven (88%) of the annual reports included a section on community relations or outreach programs (Item #13), and 6 (75%) of those exemplified the organization's commitment to diversity (Item #14). (Table 8 reports the total number of positive responses in rank order by corporation. One corporation had 13 positive responses out of the 14 criteria. In addition, 5 (63%) of the corporations had 10 or more positive responses.)

The annual report is an important communication tool for organizations because it reaches the organization's stakeholders--customers, employees, shareholders, and the broader community (Tomervik, 1994). Definitely, the corporations in this research study are using their annual reports as a technique for articulating the organization's commitment to diversity, affirming the importance of human resources, reporting progress, and presenting the positive results of workforce diversity initiatives. Overall, it seems that the majority of the corporations studied are using their annual reports to communicate workforce diversity issues internally and externally.